Happy Again
by Wonderbread1
Summary: After season 2 finale. Rory and Jess develop a closer friendship. Lorelai and Luke work things out. Eventually L/L R/J
1. Decisions

A/N- Hi. This is my second fanfic and my first Gilmore Girls one. I will probably be posting regularly so don't worry. Well, this is right after the season finale. Here goes.  
  
Chapter One- Decisions  
  
"Well that was fun, wasn't it?" Lorelei put on a fake smile. Rory and her were walking to their car after the reception at the inn was over.  
  
"Don't change the subject mom! Where's dad?" Rory demanded, while they got to the jeep.  
  
"Do you really wanna know?" Lorelei asked.  
  
"Yes of course I want to know. Last time I saw him, was before the ceremony. Where'd he go?"  
  
"Well something came up." Lorelei started the engine.  
  
"Okay, go on."  
  
"And your father had to go back to Boston." Lorelei started driving home.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"Mom! Just tell me!" Rory was starting to get frustrated.  
  
"All right! Sherry's pregnant! Your dad's gonna work things out with her. You happy?" Lorelei 's eyes started to build up with tears.  
  
Rory immediately softened. "Oh mom, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have yelled."  
  
"It's all right. So you're going to have a baby brother or sister soon. Isn't that cool?" Lorelei tried to lighten up the mood.  
  
"Yeah, I guess. That's great." Rory thought for a moment. " Mom, I know this probably isn't the best time for this, but I have to tell you something."  
  
"What is it honey?" Lorelei sounded concerned.  
  
"Well, after dad and I talked I ran into someone."  
  
"Who?" Lorelei asked.  
  
"Don't be mad, okay?" Lorelei nodded. "Well Jess is back and-"  
  
"Wait a minute! Jess is back? To visit?"  
  
"No. To stay. He moved back to Stars-Hollow. And we talked for a little bit then umm... I sort of kissed him." Rory looked closely at her mom to see her reaction.  
  
"Okay let me get this straight. You and your dad were talking and he left-"  
  
"Because his cell phone rang."  
  
"So he left 'cause his cell phone rang. Then you-"  
  
"Saw Jess standing net to the lake. I went to ask him what he was doing here."  
  
"And he said-"  
  
"That he moved back."  
  
"And you said-"  
  
"Why."  
  
"And he said-"  
  
"Just cause."  
  
"Then you kissed him."  
  
"Then I kissed him." Rory looked stunned.  
  
"May I ask why you kissed him?"  
  
"I don't know! I saw him standing there and I was so happy to see him, because I didn't think I'd ever see him again. So I kissed him and he kissed me back. And it was a good kiss." Rory smiled quickly and then stopped. "But I'm supposed to kiss Dean, not Jess. I love Dean, not Jess."  
  
"You sure honey? Things haven't been so great for you guys. Maybe if you talk to him he'll realize that too and everything will be good."  
  
"But I don't want to lose Dean. I love him, I think."  
  
"Well sorry babe, I can't decide this one for you."  
  
"I know." Lorelei pulled up to their house. "So you think dad'll call?"  
  
"Maybe. I hope so."  
  
"Yeah me too."  
  
The two girls stepped out of the jeep and slowly walked up to the front door. 


	2. Surprises

A/N- No reviews for chapter one but it's been like an hour only so I don't mind. Here's chapter two. Hope you like it.  
  
Chapter Two- Surprises  
  
Morning after Sookie's wedding.  
  
Lorelei was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the paper. Rory walks into the kitchen in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes. "Morning, mom."  
  
"Morning sleepy-head." Lorelei responded.  
  
"What are you doing up? It's 8:00am on a Saturday morning. You're usually sleeping 'till at least one." Rory poured herself a cup of coffee and sat next to her mom. "What's up?"  
  
"I don't know. I woke up at 7:00 and couldn't fall back to sleep. I had a lot of things on my mind."  
  
"And those 'lots of things you had on your mind' were all trying to fit in that small mind of yours and couldn't fit so your head started hurting and you couldn't get to sleep, right."  
  
"Exactly. You are a smart one. Has anyone ever told you that before?"  
  
"Once or twice."  
  
"Thought so." There was a short pause.  
  
"So mom, do we have anything to eat. I'm starved." Rory asked.  
  
"I found a box of cereal in the cupboard but when I opened it the cereal wasn't there. It was freaky."  
  
"Yeah, always is." Rory thought for a moment. "So, what are we gonna do about breakfast?"  
  
"Luke's is out of the question so I was thinking-"  
  
"Why is Luke's out of the question?"  
  
"Because until you decide who you want, I don't think it's right for you to run into Jess."  
  
"Or maybe, Luke's still mad at you and you're too chicken to get blown off again."  
  
"That's not true!" Rory gave Lorelei a look. "Well maybe it's a little true." "Are you ever gonna tell me why he's mad at you?"  
  
"No." Lorelei simply said. "Go get dressed. We're going to Luke's."  
  
Later at Luke's  
  
Rory and Lorelei just exited the jeep and entered Luke's. Jess was nowhere in sight. Rory spotted Dean sitting at a table. "Mom." Rory nudged over to Dean.  
  
"Go ahead honey. I'm gonna sit at the counter."  
  
"Hey Dean. Can I sit here?" Rory asked.  
  
"Yeah of course. What are you doing here so early?" Dean asked.  
  
" I usually wake up early and wait for mom to get up before I come, but mom was awake before me so we came."  
  
"Oh. So, did you know that Jess is back? I saw him walking around last night."  
  
"Yeah, we sort of ran into each other at Sookie's wedding yesterday."  
  
"You didn't tell me about that."  
  
"I know and umm. something happened."  
  
"You kissed him didn't you?" Dean asked.  
  
"Dean, how'd you know? Did he tell you?" Rory asked surprised.  
  
"No, Jess didn't tell me. It seemed obvious since you said you saw Jess at the wedding and 'something happened.'"  
  
"Dean I'm so sorry. I love you, but not in that way. More like a really great friend."  
  
"Yeah, I love you too, but we've been drifting apart lately. I knew you liked him and I sort of gave up on us being together any longer. So, you wanna be with him?" Dean asked.  
  
"I- I think so." Rory was still surprised that Dean was taking it so well.  
  
"Well that's cool. Rory, I still want to be friends. Is that okay with you?" Dean asked while getting up.  
  
"Of course it is Dean. I will always wanna be friends with you." Rory stood up and stood next to Dean.  
  
"Well Rory, I got to get going. I start work in two minutes, and if I'm late, Taylor's gonna give me an eight hour lecture on punctuality and the importance of it. See ya." Dean kissed Rory on the cheek. "Oh and tell Jess, 'welcome back' for me."  
  
"I will. Bye Dean."  
  
Dean left the diner. When he was outside, he waved at Rory. She smiled and waved back. 


	3. Alone

A/N: I know the way Dean handled things was really weird but theirs a reason for it. Hint, hint.  
  
I forgot about the disclaimer in the last two chapters. Here it is.  
  
Disclaimer: I DON'T own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters. Amy Sherman Pallidino does. She'd really lucky. I am not making any money off of this story either. I do own this story though because I wrote it. I also DON'T own Donkey or Shrek.  
  
Chapter Three- Alone  
  
Rory walked up to her mom and sat on the stool next to her. Her mouth was open in pure shock.  
  
"What's wrong honey? You look like you've just seen Taylor naked." Lorelei had the image of him being naked in her head and gagged.  
  
"Yeah." Rory was still dazed and barely heard what her mom said. "I'm sorry mom, what did you say?"  
  
"I asked what was wrong with you. You all right? Did you and Dean brake up?" Lorelei was now concerned.  
  
"We did." Rory simply said, while staring at her mother.  
  
"Well, how'd it go?"  
  
"Perfect." Rory responded. "Too perfect."  
  
"Too perfect?" Lorelei asked, completely confused by now.  
  
Rory told Lorelei everything, from her asking to sit down, to Dean smiling and waving good-bye.  
  
"Wow."  
  
"That's it? Wow?" Rory asked.  
  
"Well, it's surprising. I mean Deans always so overprotective and possessive when it comes to you and another guy."  
  
"You're right." Rory said, while thinking hard.  
  
"Unless he's up to something!" Lorelei exclaimed. "Rory he must have a plan of some sort. Either that or he's been dating some sleazy blond behind your back and is finally happy that he won't be cheating on you."  
  
"You really think he's planning something?" Rory asked.  
  
"Maybe. Let's not think about that, let's get some breakfast." Lorelei looked around. "Where's Luke?"  
  
"In the kitchen." Jess came out of the kitchen and walked up to the girls with a pen and pad in hand. "What can I get you two?"  
  
"Coffee and pancakes for me." Rory was looking at the counter while playing with a napkin.  
  
"Same here."  
  
"All right." Jess wrote down the order. Rory looked up from the napkin and looked Jess in the eyes. He smiled, one of his genuine smiles, and Rory smiled back. She already started to feel less suspicious about the break- up. Jess turned and went to the back, breaking their eye contact.  
  
"I saw that."  
  
"What did you see mom?" Rory asked pretending to be confused.  
  
"Come on Rory. You've just broken up with a guy you've been dating for almost a year, and you're already over it?"  
  
"Well he took it surprisingly well, why can't I?"  
  
"If I knew, for a fact, that Dean wasn't up to something, then I wouldn't mind. But from what you've told me, it sounds like he is."  
  
"What could Dean possibly be planning?" Rory asked like her mom was crazy.  
  
"I don't know, but don't know, but don't let him off that easily. Ask him why he's being so cool about this. It's so not Dean."  
  
"I'll ask, but believe me it's nothing. He's just happy that I wanted to be friends."  
  
"Bull shit. He's up to something. Listen to me Rory, I don't want you to get hurt." Luke came up to the two and put their plates down in front of them. Seconds later, he came back with two huge mugs full with coffee.  
  
"Okay, okay. Can we just change the subject now?" Lorelei nodded. "When are you and Luke gonna make up? It's been over a month and you're still fighting. This sucks."  
  
"Well, I've apologized a gazillion times. He said that he's not made at me anymore, but I know he is. I just don't know what his problem is." Lorelei took a gulp of her coffee.  
  
"Maybe there's more to it than that. If you tell me what you said to him I'll try to figure out what's wrong."  
  
"If I told you that it was nothing, would you believe me?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Okay fine." Lorelei took a deep breath and then began. "After I left the hospital the night you got into the car accident, I went to Luke's. He had no idea about what happened so I explained it to him while I looked for Jess."  
  
"Wait a minute. You were looking for Jess? Why?"  
  
"I was really angry and scared Rory, and the only person I thought I could take it out on was Jess. I couldn't find him anywhere in Luke's so we left. By then, we were yelling at each other and I said some things I shouldn't have."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Like, it was Luke's fault that you got hurt."  
  
"How was me getting into a car accident with Jess LUKE's fault?"  
  
"I said that it was his fault Jess was in Stars-Hollow and his fault that you two were together studying that night there-fore his fault that you were in the car when it crashed."  
  
"Wow. What else did you say to him?"  
  
"Well I asked him where he was going 'cause he was walking real fast. He said that he had to find Jess because he didn't know if he was okay. A few more things were said and then I told him to go to hell."  
  
"That was stupid."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You know, I don't really blame Luke for being mad at you." Before Lorelei could say anything Rory said, "I'm gonna go for a walk. "I'll see you at home later, all right?"  
  
"Sure." Rory took one last sip of her coffee and walked out of the diner.  
  
Lorelei started singing quietly, "I'm all alone. There's nobody here beside me," the song Donkey sang at one point in Shrek.  
  
A/N- Please review!!!!! I will right more faster if I have a reason other than I LOVE WRITING to write more of this story for you guys. 


	4. Apologies

A/N- Wow! It's been too long. I'm so sorry to anyone who was interested in this story and got mad because I haven't updated in so long. I made a couple of mistakes in the last chapter, like saying it was chapter two when it was chapter three. So sorry about that, please don't mind dumb mistakes. Well, here's chapter four. I hope you enjoy it and review. P.S I don't like Dean being a bad guy so I'm sorry if this chapter didn't turn out the way you wanted it to.  
  
Chapter four- Apologies  
  
After Rory left the diner, Lorelei ordered more coffee. She sat at the counter waiting for Luke to refill her mug. When he came by with the pot Lorelei asked, "Luke, do you think you could take a small break? The diner isn't busy and Jess and Ceaser are both working. I need to talk to you."  
  
"I don't know Lorelei," Luke looked around.  
  
"Please Luke, I have to talk to you."  
  
"All right, we can talk upstairs. But it can't take long."  
  
"It won't."  
  
So, Luke and Lorelei headed for his apartment. Luke opened the door and led Lorelei to his new leather couch Jess insisted he buy.  
  
"New couch?" Lorelei asked while running her right hand over the black armrest.  
  
"Yeah." Luke replied.  
  
"Okay... so I guess I'll just talk." Luke looked at her, but said nothing. "All right, here goes. As you know, yesterday was Sookie's wedding." Lorelei paused, so Luke nodded. " I thought that my life was actually going great. Christopher and his girlfriend Sherry were separated at the time so me and Chris thought it was time to finally be a couple."  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" Luke asked annoyed and confused.  
  
"Just wait until I'm finished." Luke nodded again. "I thought my life was finally going as planned. Rory's mom and dad would finally going to be together. We'd have the perfect life, right? But it didn't turn out that way. Before it was me and Rory's turn to walk down the aisle, Chris got a call from Sherry. She turned out to be pregnant so Chris left me to try and work things out with Sherry. I knew that Chris and I being together could never happen but I tried anyways and he broke my heart. I'm finally over the idea of me and Chris and I can move on. But I can't move on happily knowing that I hurt my best friend. Until we're friends again Luke, I don't think I'll ever truly be happy again. I apologize Luke. I know what I said was totally blown out of proportion. Rory's accident was not your fault. Jess being here is not your fault. I said it was that night because I was scared and confused and upset. I know nothing I do or say can make up for how badly I hurt you. But I hope someday soon, you will forgive me and we can be friends again. To be honest, I miss you Luke, more than I've missed anyone or anything in my whole life." With that final comment, Lorelei got off the couch and left the apartment and diner, leaving Luke alone, with his thoughts.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rory was walking toward the gazebo with her book, Franny an Zoey. When the gazebo came into view, Rory saw two figures sitting in it talking. One of them was Dean. "I thought he said he had work." Rory said suspiciously. She decided to go listen in on his conversation since she was supposed to find out why he was so cool about the break-up anyways. Maybe she could find something out now. She settled herself behind the gazebo making sure they didn't hear her.  
  
"So you guys aren't together anymore?" Tom, Dean's best friend, asked.  
  
"No. I knew she liked Jess and I knew that as long as he existed, things would never be the same between the two of us. I loved her too much to see her unhappy. And if Rory thinks Jess can make her happy, I'll let him. I'm just glad she doesn't hate my guts and we're still friends."  
  
"Come on man, you know that's not the only reason you didn't get real mad over her liking Jess."  
  
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, completely clueless.  
  
"Does the name Lisa ring a bell? You told me you liked her, even before you and Rory went downhill."  
  
"Well Lisa is really nice. She's a cool person."  
  
"A cool person that you have the hots for. Am I right?"  
  
"I wouldn't go that far. But I still love Rory. I can't do anything about Lisa until I'm totally over Rory. Who knows, we may even end up back together again"  
  
"Maybe, but if it helps you get over her faster, I heard Lisa likes you too. Sean told me he was gonna ask her out soon so I suggest you hurry up with Rory."  
  
"Come on man. It's not that easy."  
  
"Whatever. Let's go get Sean and Levi, we'll play a little two on two."  
  
"Great idea. Thank God Taylor let me skip work today." The two boys left the gazebo and headed over to their friends house. Rory stayed behind the gazebo thinking about what she had just heard.  
  
"Inspecting the structural support frame of the gazebo? Good idea. I heard there are a lot of termites around these here parts." A voice said in a cowboy sort of accent.  
  
Rory turned around quickly. "Jess!"  
  
A/N: Well that's not much of an ending but that's all I could come up with. Please review!!!!! 


	5. The Letter

A/N- Sorry about The Shags mix up. I changed that part to Franny and Zoey. Thanks for pointing that out.  
  
Disclaimer-Disclaimer: I DON'T own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters. Amy Sherman Pallidino does. She's really lucky. I am not making any money off of this story either. I do own this story though because I wrote it.  
  
Chapter Five- The Letter  
  
"Jess, what are you doing here? How long have you been standing there?" Rory asked panicked. She hoped he hadn't heard the whole conversation.  
  
"I just got here. I'm on my break. Thought I'd read a little. Spotted you. Walked up to you. Now here I am. What were you doing, listening in on your boyfriends conversation?"  
  
"He's notmyboyfriend." Rory mumbled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"He's NOT MY BOYFRIEND." Rory said more loudly.  
  
"No, I meant Dean not that other guy."  
  
"DEAN IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Rory said loud enough for Babette and Ms. Patty to hear since they were walking past the two. "Oh great. Now the whole towns gonna know not even half an hour after we broke up." Rory started walking away. She didn't know where but she had to think.  
  
Jess quickly stood alongside Rory. "Why?"  
  
"Why what?" Rory asked.  
  
"Why did you guys break up?" Jess asked trying to keep up with Rory's fast pace.  
  
"Well we- wait, it's none of your business!"  
  
"Okay, okay." Rory and Jess kept walking side by side in a surprisingly comfortable silence. A minute later Rory reached the bridge; surprised that this was the place her feet had taken her.  
  
Without a word, the two walked to the middle of the bridge and sat next to each other. For an hour, the two didn't say a word. They just dealt with their own thoughts, in their minds.  
  
Suddenly, Rory took of her shoes and socks and placed them next to her. She then took off her light jacket, revealing a plain white tank top. "What are you doing?" Jess asked, breaking the long silence.  
  
"I'm going for a swim." Rory said like it should have been obvious to him. Rory slowly put her feet into the warm water, then the rest of her body. When she was settled in the lake she faced Jess. "Come on. I'll race you to the end and back."  
  
Jess's surprise was quickly pushed aside and in two seconds flat, he was chasing after Rory. When he caught up to her, Jess swam in front of Rory, blocking her way. Rory tried to get around him but failed, so she splashed water at him. While Jess rubbed his eyes, Rory noticed Jess was shirtless. His body was so perfect. He obviously worked out regularly. Rory found herself running her hands over his hard chest. Jess stopped rubbing his eyes and looked down at her hands. Rory looked at him, red faced. She quickly smiled and swam away calling, "Last one there has to give up reading for the rest of the day!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Since Lorelei had nothing better to do she went to the Inn to help clean up after the wedding yesterday. Sookie was already on her way to Florida, Rory was off somewhere doing God knows what and Luke was still giving Lorelei the Mr. Freeze. She had no one to confide into. She slumped around the Inn, picking up fallen streamers and potpourri off the ground.  
  
When she got bored of that she went to the front desk and looked for the list of phone numbers Sookie said she put in an envelope at the front desk just in case Lorelei needed to reach her.  
  
When Lorelei found the envelope, she opened it and was surprised at the photograph that was inside it. It was a picture of Lorelei and Luke eating lunch in the gazebo. Lorelei recognized that it was taken during the 'Bid on a Basket' fundraiser. 'Who had taken that picture?' Lorelei thought. She studied it and then turned it around. Sookie's writing was scribbled messily all over the back of the picture.  
  
Lorelei & Luke, I'm going to be gone for 2 weeks and when I get back, I'm hoping that you guys will be friends again. You, Luke, seem so sad and depressed these days and you Lorelei, just haven't been your cheerily self lately. All I'm asking is that you try and do something to fix whatever is broken between the two of you guys. I really miss the old Lorelei and Luke. Stars-Hollow isn't the same and won't ever be the same until you resolve your problems. I love you both and hope I'm helping you realize this is all so silly.  
  
Sookie  
  
Under Sookie's message there were signatures of practically every Stars- Hollow resident on a piece of paper, stapled to the picture.  
  
A//N- Another crappy ending. Sorry 'bout that.  
  
Please review!!!!! 


	6. Close Call

A/N: I'm really sorry everyone. I haven't been posting regularly as I promised but I'm really busy these days. I hate to leave everyone hanging at the end of every chapter I write but where I stop always seems to be perfect. I also just realized that I've been spelling Lorelai's name wrong. In this chapter the name is spelt right. Thanks for keeping up with me. :)  
  
Chapter Six- Close Call  
  
Lorelai scanned over the picture of her and Luke eating lunch together over and over again. She was trying to decide whether to go to Luke's now and show him the note, or not show it to him at all. Soon she decided that since Sookie addressed the note to her and Luke, it wouldn't be fair to keep it to herself. So she left the inn and drove to Luke's.  
  
When she arrived and stepped into the diner, Luke was nowhere to be seen. Caesar was walking around taking orders from the many patrons in the diner. Lorelai walked up to him. "Caesar, where's Luke?"  
  
"Luke had something to take care of in Hartford. He said he'd be back by eight if you want to wait." Lorelai looked at her watch. Six forty-five.  
  
"No thanks. I'm just going to leave something in his apartment." Caesar nodded. Lorelai walked up the stairs and toward the apartment door. To Lorelai's surprise the door was unlocked, so she opened it and stepped into the apartment. Surprisingly, Lorelai was not alone.  
  
*~*~Earlier that day~*~*  
  
"Okay, I've had enough. You win." Jess surrendered. He climbed back onto the bridge.  
  
Rory, who had won the most recent race and was already sitting comfortably, laughed. "Why Jess, I would never think of you as one to give up so easily."  
  
"Easily?! We've been racing for the past two hours, and I didn't win a single time." Jess sat next to Rory and looked at her in disbelief. "Where did you learn how to swim like that?"  
  
"Wayne Gretzky taught me when he was engaged to my mom."  
  
"Wayne Gretzky? Wayne Gretzky was a hockey player, not a swimmer." Jess corrected.  
  
"I didn't say he was a swimmer, I said he taught me how to swim." Rory said in sarcastic defense.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't catch that the first time. So, just for the record, when was your mom engaged to Wayne Gretzky?" Jess asked.  
  
"Well my mom told me I was about three when the, oh so famous, Mr. Gretzky proposed. My mother said yes of course but before the wedding, she realized that he wasn't the guy for her. Just because he could swim real good, didn't mean she was in love with him. It was sad, really. The day she dumped him, Wayne was heart broken. He quit Olympic swimming and started playing soccer. The whole thing devastated the entire town. Mom was so-"  
  
"I'm going to stop you right there, if it's alright with you."  
  
"Certainly."  
  
"So, I guess we should get going. I was supposed to go with Luke to Hartford. He probably left without me, but I want to be there when he gets back." Jess stood up.  
  
"Yeah let's go." Rory stood up and stared Jess in the eyes. "Wait, before we go, can we talk real quick?"  
  
"About what?" Jess asked.  
  
"Yesterday, at Sookie's wedding, me kissing you."  
  
"Okay," Jess said waiting for Rory to continue.  
  
"Could we just not talk about it for a while. I like the way things are going now. I love that you moved back to Stars-Hollow. I missed you so much when you were gone. I told my mom I had a stroke the day I came to New York to see you. But I knew what I was doing when I left Chilton. I wanted to see you and I have never regretted the time I spent with you there. I love spending time with you. Talking with you is so easy. There are never any awkward pauses between us. We can talk together about things I can't talk with any body else about. We have fun together and," Rory looked down at her feet, "and I-I like you." Rory's last comment was barely audible. Jess thought he heard her say she liked him but wasn't sure.  
  
"What did you say? I didn't catch the last part."  
  
Rory looked up at him. "I said I like you," Rory whispered. There was silence for a moment. It was clear that Jess was thinking hard.  
  
"Okay, how about, for now, you and I just stay the way we are. Friends that like to hang out together. Then when we're both ready, we'll try something more. Deal?" Jess extended his hand.  
  
Rory smiled and took his hand. "Deal."  
  
"Good. Now there's just one more thing we need to do before we leave." "What?" Rory asked.  
  
Jess jumped into the lake. "I need to beat you at least once. Last one to the end and back, has to dye their hair blue for the whole day tomorrow."  
  
And with that, Jess sped away with Rory trailing closely behind yelling, "BLUE??"  
  
~*~  
  
Ten minutes later, Rory and Jess were walking side-by-side towards Luke's, dripping wet. "So, tomorrow, we both have to die our hair blue and walk around town." The race ended up a tie.  
  
"Yeah, but it's just Halloween spray. It comes out real easy." Jess reassured.  
  
"I can't believe I'm actually gonna do that. It seems so crazy." Rory said.  
  
"Hey, you don't have to if you don't want to. It was just a race."  
  
"No, I want to. Everyone in town is gonna freak."  
  
"I look forward to it." A moment of comfortable silence passed.  
  
"See, that's what I like about you Jess. When we're not talking, it's always so peaceful, ya know? The silence isn't awkward or uncomfortable. I love that." Rory smiled.  
  
"Yeah." Jess and Rory said nothing until they got to Luke's. "Glad Luke's not here yet. He's probably mad at me already for not going with him, but if I was out when he came back." Jess left the rest of his sentence blank. Both Rory and Jess knew Luke would be really angry. Nothing needed to be said. "So, how about we go dry up upstairs. I'll walk you home when we're done."  
  
Rory looked at her watch. Six-thirty. "Sounds great." So Rory and Jess walked upstairs unnoticed by any of the many patrons.  
  
*~*~Present~*~*  
  
"M-Mom? What are you doing here?" Rory stammered. Her and Jess were sitting on the couch watching T.V when Lorelei walked in. Rory stood up. Jess just sat and watched the two women.  
  
"I was just going to leave something for Luke. What are you doing here?" Lorelei asked a bit of angry seeping through her voice.  
  
"Me and Jess were just watching T.V. After my walk earlier, I ran into Jess and asked if I could borrow some of his books. We came here and when I finished looking through them we came to watch television before I left." Rory lied. She didn't think that 'me and Jess just came here to dry off since we were swimming together for the past three hours," would make her mother very happy. Rory thanked God her clothes weren't wet anymore  
  
"Uh-huh. So, where are those books you wanted to borrow?" Lorelei asked, again there was anger in her voice.  
  
Jess took that moment to speak. "They're still in my room. We figured she'd just go in there and get the ones she picked out before she left. It's no big deal. Rory was about to leave anyway."  
  
"Well then you can come with me in the jeep. I was on my way home. I just had to drop this off." Lorelei placed the letter and picture on the kitchen table. "I'll wait for you downstairs. Don't take too long." With that Lorelei left the apartment and closed the door behind her.  
  
"Wow. She was mad." Jess said and faced Rory.  
  
"Yeah. I hope she won't be too mad when we're alone. I can't believe I lied to her.  
  
"Ya think she bought it?" Jess asked while walking Rory to the door.  
  
"I don't know. I hope so." Rory opened the door.  
  
She was about to leave when she said, "Wait. You forgot something." Jess jogged to his room and came back with about five books. He handed them to Rory. "Without these, I'm sure Lorelai wouldn't buy you're story."  
  
"Oh, thanks Jess." Rory smiled. "I had fun today."  
  
"So did I."  
  
"Don't forget about tomorrow."  
  
"Do you think you're mom will let you?"  
  
"I'll convince her." Rory waved and left smiling.  
  
Jess leaned his back against the closed door and decided he'd go help out Caeser with the dinner rush.  
  
A/N- I'm not really sure if the name of the chapter fits this chapter but I couldn't think of anything else.  
  
Please click on the purple button and review, whether you have something good to say, or bad to say, just say it. Thanks  
  
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	7. Canceled

A/N-You guys were right about Rory being too open in the last chapter. If it bugged you, I'm sorry about that. Thanks for the reviews. You guys are great.  
  
P.S- I noticed that almost all of the reviews aren't signed. If you had a log in name, it would be nice if you used it so I could check out what you've written and review your stuff. Okay, on with chapter Seven.  
  
Chapter Seven- Canceled  
  
Lorelai and Rory drove home in silence. Lorelai had a frustrated look on her face. One of her hands was on her head and the other, on the steering wheel. Rory watched her mother the whole time, wondering why she wasn't saying anything. Finally, Rory broke the silence. "What's wrong?"  
  
Lorelai quickly glanced at her daughter. "Is it true?" She asked.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Were you at Jess's because you wanted to borrow books?" Lorelai asked.  
  
Rory wasn't sure why, but she lied, "Yeah, Jess has way more books than me, and I just wanted to check them out. When I picked all the ones I wanted to borrow, Jess suggested I stay a little while to watch T.V. I said yes. I was about to leave when you walked in."  
  
Lorelai studied her daughter closely and decided to drop it. "So, did you eat anything?"  
  
"I haven't eaten since breakfast at Luke's. I'm starved. How 'bout you?"  
  
"Same." Lorelai pulled into the driveway and parked the car. "How 'bout we order some pizza?"  
  
Rory and Lorelai stepped out of the jeep and shut their doors at the same time. "Sounds great."  
  
"You told me you might be going to Washington. What's up with that?" Lorelai asked as she unlocked the front door.  
  
"Still not positive, but it is a possibility," Rory answered as she took off her shoes and walked inside the house. "I really don't wanna go. Six weeks alone with Paris sounds like hell. What have I done to be punished this harshly?"  
  
Lorelai could think of a thing or two. Kissing Jess, dumping Dean, spending the whole day with Jess, lying to her. "Nothing that I can think of." She lied.  
  
Rory shrugged as she headed for her room.  
  
~*~  
  
By eight, both Gilmore's were in their pajama's, sitting on the couch, watching television, drinking coffee, and eating pizza. "So, has dad called yet?" Rory asked.  
  
"No, but I don't really care. I knew it was too good to be true, I'm over him anyway."  
  
And it was true. Lorelai was over Chris, but it still didn't make it better because he lied to Rory and didn't even say goodbye. Rory was disappointed about that, but agreed with her mother. "It was too good to be true. I knew he'd find some way of getting out of this. He always does."  
  
Lorelai decided not to say anything about Chris anymore. She faced the T.V. "Look, its Emeril! BAM!" They both said in unison. Lorelai and Rory watched as Emeril Lagasi made a chicken salad and some kind of cheesecake for dessert.  
  
~*~  
  
At nine-thirty the phone rang. Lorelai and Rory looked at each other and said at the same time. "You're closer," followed by, "no you're closer," and "nu-uh," also, "uh-huh."  
  
"Fine I'll get it." Rory said and quickly got off the couch and ran to the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Rory?" A voice asked.  
  
"Yeah, who is this?"  
  
"It's Paris. I have some bad news."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"They canceled it."  
  
"Canceled what?"  
  
"The convention in Washington! They canceled it!"  
  
"Huh? Why?" Rory asked with a hint of happiness in her voice.  
  
"Paris!!!" A person in the background at Paris's house called.  
  
"Something about one of the counclers having a better ised since another counclers dad or something died. I gotta go."  
  
"All right, um see ya." Rory tried hard too contain her happiness but couldn't. And Paris noticed.  
  
"You sound happy. Are you smiling? I knew it. You didn't want to be part of this in the first place. Why did you make me believe that you were eager to participate in this? You were all like, 'Yeah Paris, this is going to be great' and all that crap. At first I didn't believe you but then I was stupid enough to by into you're act. I can't-"  
  
"Paris, I am disappointed but um... you know my mom. She's um dancing around to some um Christmas music. It's funny, that's why I sound happy, okay?" Rory sounded pretty convincing considering the word 'um' was used quite frequentely.  
  
"All right, whatever. I'll call you back later to fill you in on what we're going to have to do now."  
  
"Sure. Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Rory hung up and ran up to her mom, who was closely watching the T.V. "Who was that Rory?" Lorelai asked, seeing the happy expression on Rory's face."  
  
"It was-"  
  
"Nooo, let me guess. Oh oh! It was George Clooney inviting you and I over to his house so we can help him plan another Casino robbery, since you've got the brains and I've got plenty of experience when it comes to casino robberies. Ohhh, is Brad gonna be there too?"  
  
"No, it wasn't George Clooney, and Brad was not there."  
  
"Okay, it was Kirk inviting you to spend the night at his house and you said yes."  
  
"NO WAY! Don't be gross." Rory's smile faded and A disgusted look came onto her face. "It was Paris."  
  
"Paris? What did she want?"  
  
"I'm not going to Washington!" Rory said happily.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was canceled! They're going to add a class at Chilton teaching kids the same thing we would have learned in Washington! I'm staying in Stars-Hollow for the summer!"  
  
"YAY!" Lorelai ran up to Rory and hugged her. "Summer is back on!"  
  
A/N- Sorry about the lateness of this chapter but I spent all of yesterday in the hospital. I'll have the next one posted either tomorrow or Tuesday. Please review. 


	8. The Visitor

A/N- I'm proud of myself for posting again so soon. Aren't you guys?  
  
Chapter Eight- The Visitor  
  
It was the morning after Rory found out she wouldn't have to go to Washington for the summer. (It is now Sunday) Rory had no homework to do but she did have to study for finals, which were coming up this week. (The very last week of school) Rory was awake, unlike her mother who thought waking up on a Sunday morning before eleven was a crime.  
  
Rory had already showered, got dressed, ate, and drank coffee, and was now ready to leave and find Jess. She decided to leave her mom a note explaining where she planned on going. What started out as a simple note, turned to be a long descriptive letter.  
  
Mom- Yesterday Jess and I planned on doing something today. It's nothing romantic don't worry, we're just gonna hang out. I just want to let you know that we talked and decided to forget about the kiss at Sookie's wedding for now. I like him mom, he's a great guy, and I know that some day you'll see what I see. But I've decided not to force you guys into a friendship or anything, I just hope that you won't hate him forever. I have finals this week but I studied my ass off all last week and decided to take this weekend off. Besides, I know everything there is to know about everything so I'll do excellent. Plus, tomorrow's Organizational Day for the teachers so I'll have the whole day to study. I love you mom and I hope you and Luke can patch things up again.  
  
P.S- Made some coffee. Hopefully you'll be awake before it get really cold.  
  
I'll be home around six. Rory.  
  
Rory left the note on the stairs and headed for Luke's.  
  
~~~~~~~~~10 minutes later  
  
Rory walked into Luke's and saw Jess at the counter. Luke was nowhere in sight. Rory walked up to Jess. "Hey Albert." Rory said.  
  
"Albert?" Jess asked  
  
"Yeah, Albert. It's short for Jess you know." Rory replied matter-of- factly.  
  
"Huh, I didn't know."  
  
"Now you do, Albert."  
  
"Okay," Jess whispered as he leaned over the counter, his face practically touching Rory's. "If you ever want to see coffee ever again, I suggest you stick to calling me Jess from now on."  
  
Rory nodded. "Sure Jess." Rory smiled, hoping that Jess would stay close to her like that forever.  
  
Unfortunately for Rory, Jess moved back to his former position behind the counter. "So what'll you have?"  
  
"Actually I already ate. When do you get off?"  
  
"I'm only here 'til Luke comes back."  
  
"Where is Luke and when is he coming back?"  
  
"I don't know and probably soon."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Rory was surprised at his question, even though it was so simple. "Aren't we are gonna do that thing today- I mean I thought you were serious- And I was willing to do it if you were. But if you don't want to we don't have to. It was just-"  
  
"Rory stop." Rory stopped talking immediately. "You're talking about the blue Halloween dye right?" Rory nodded. "Okay, I have some upstairs. Once Luke gets back we'll do it. If you're absolutely sure."  
  
"I am."  
  
"Good. We'll scare the shit out of everyone." Rory laughed. "So, what have you been reading lately?"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was around nine when Lorelai woke up to a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. (Ten minutes after Rory left) She groggily walked down the stairs and stopped when she stepped on a piece of paper. She picked it up and read it quickly and sighed thinking 'Jess? Why not Lane or something?' Slipping the note into her pajama pant pocket, she continued on to the kitchen.  
  
When she got there she first noticed the bags of Doose's Market groceries. Then she noticed the man standing at the stove cooking something that smelled really good, and gasped in surprise.  
  
A/N- Expect next chapter tomorrow if I get some reviews. When I read your wonderful reviews, I want to write more and more. The more reviews the more chapters and the faster I update. Please review. Say two words, I don't care just please review. Thanks stud. (Hope that wasn't intimidating. Instead of reading stud, pretend it says dude if you feel uncomfortable) 


	9. Blue Hair and Breakfast

A/N- Wow! Thanks for all the reviews. As promised, here is the next chapter.  
  
Chapter Nine- Blue Hair and Breakfast  
  
Luke turned around quickly at the sound of Lorelai's gasp. "Oh, uh, hi Lorelai. I uh, just came by to make you some breakfast, cause I know that you like breakfast, and I thought I could come over, um to make you breakfast." Lorelai didn't say anything. Her mouth just hung open in surprise.  
  
Luke went on. "And I came to a-apologize. I know that for the past month I've been sort of distant and well, a complete jerk. I saw the note from Sookie and the picture and it reminded me of how we used to be and I, well, I missed it. I'm sorry about the way I've been acting. I know you apologized so many times. But I kept on thinking 'the only person who I could trust and depend on wasn't on my side about something so important.' Everyone in town hated Jess and hated me for taking him in. To think that the only person I trusted hated him too, that just made me so angry. I know I shouldn't have held my grudge for as long as I did, and I regret that. Every time you apologized, I wanted to say that I forgave you but I couldn't bring myself to do it. But now I can so, can you accept my apology?" Luke looked at Lorelai with a sort of embarrassed and hopeful expression.  
  
Lorelai ran across the kitchen at full speed and hugged Luke with a force that would have knocked him down if he weren't leaning against the counter. Luke put his arms around Lorelai awkwardly. "Of course I forgive you!" Lorelai said into Luke's shoulder. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've hoped that you'd forgive me! Thanks so much Luke."  
  
Lorelai pulled back for a second and looked into Luke's eyes. For the first time ever, she saw something in them that she never noticed before. Love. Without a thought, Lorelai found herself leaning in closer and closer toward Luke's lips. Before Lorelai could reach him Luke pulled back.  
  
"The pancakes are burning," he explained and turned his back to Lorelai.  
  
Lorelai decided that what just happened shouldn't have to spoil her mood. She was so thankful that Luke forgave her, so she stood next to Luke and watched him make the pancakes. Luke looked up and smiled at her. Lorelai smiled back.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Where is he?" Rory whined to Jess after finishing her third cup of coffee.  
  
"He's only been gone for twenty minutes. Give him time." Jess said.  
  
Rory looked closely at Jess. "Time for what? You know where he is, don't you?"  
  
Jess started squirming. "No. Luke doesn't tell me anything. How would I know where he went?"  
  
"You do know. Where is he? Tell me Jess, tell me pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase." Rory begged.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jess lied. "Look, I have work to do." Jess started walking to the kitchen. Rory followed, begging for Jess to tell her where Luke went.  
  
After ten minutes of begging and following, Jess gave in. "Fine, fine. He went to your moms house to make her breakfast or something."  
  
"WHAT?!?!? Oh my God! Finally, it's been like five years since they stopped talking. This is so great!" Rory said with delight. As fast as Rory's mood changed to happy, it changed back to sad and grumpy. "Wait, Luke's not gonna be back soon. He's making my imom/i breakfast. Do you know how long it's gonna take him to finish making all that food? We're not gonna be able to leave for another six hours. This sucks."  
  
Jess started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Rory asked.  
  
"I'm going to find Caesar." Jess said as he walked behind the counter.  
  
"Why?" Rory asked as she followed him.  
  
"We're leaving."  
  
"But Luke said you had to stay until he got back."  
  
Jess opened the kitchen door. Rory followed. "Look, there's like five people in here. Luke will probably be back in like an hour. By then, the lunch customers will have just come in. Luke can take care of them." He paused. "Besides, we have things to do." Jess smiled at Rory. Rory smiled back and left to wait for Jess at the counter.  
  
Five minutes later, Rory and Jess were upstairs in Luke's apartment. Jess was holding a can of blue dye and was standing behind Rory, who was sitting on a chair. "Are you sure about this?" Jess asked.  
  
"It comes out by just washing your hair right?" Rory asked.  
  
"That's what the can says."  
  
"Well then do it. Besides, I get to do your hair after."  
  
Jess started spraying the dye all over Rory's hair. It showed up clear and bright. When Jess finished covering every inch of Rory's brown hair, the two switched spots. Rory sprayed streaks up and down Jess's hair, not completely covering all his hair. Then quietly pulled three more bottles out of her bag and filled in the blueless spots. "Done." Rory said and handed Jess the mirror.  
  
"What did you do?" Jess asked laughing.  
  
"I improvised." Rory answered. "What, you don't like it?"  
  
"No, no. It's great. Where did you get all the colors? I only have blue."  
  
"I went to the art store before I cam here and bought red, pink and yellow. I thought it would look cool on you."  
  
"Too bad you didn't tell me about them earlier. I know a certain blue haired chick who would look great as a blonde." Jess teased.  
  
"What's her number? We'll call her and do her hair too." Rory played along.  
  
"I don't know for sure, but if you look in the phone book under Gilmore, you'll probably find it."  
  
Rory looked around. "Can't find the phone book, too bad."  
  
Jess got up. "Okay, enough. Now that we're done our hair, what do you wanna do now?"  
  
"I don't know, got to the bookstore?"  
  
"All right then, the bookstore it is." Jess grabbed his blue vest and walked up to the door. He opened it and motioned for Rory to go first. "Blue haired freaks first."  
  
"Oh no. That would be extremely rude. My mom taught me that you should never walk out the door before a clown. It's considered highly disrespectful."  
  
"Oh in that case," Jess let go of the door handle and walked out followed closely by Rory.  
  
~~~~~~~ Meanwhile  
  
Luke finished making a huge stack of pancakes and a full pot of coffee and set everything on the kitchen table. He also made eggs, bacon, waffles, pop tarts, and special whole wheat blueberry pancakes for himself, which were already on the table. "Done." He said to Lorelai, who was sitting on a chair, next to the table. "iNow/i, you can eat."  
  
Nothing more needed to be said for Lorelei to start eating. For a while, Luke just stared at her with a disapproved expression on his face. Finally, Lorelai noticed his staring. "What?" She asked, a piece of egg hanging out of her mouth. "It's your fault I'm eating so fast. You're the one who just had to make everything so delicious." Luke shook his head and took a bite out of his pancakes.  
  
Ten minutes later, all plates were clean. Well, maybe not clean as in washed with soap and water clean, but clean as in Lorelai finished eating clean. Lorelei sat back in her chair and groaned. "I'm gonna die." She complained.  
  
"You're not gonna die." Luke said annoyed, as he put the dishes in the sink.  
  
"Yes I am. The quantity of food I have just finished consuming is trying to fit in my stomach. But my stomach is excessively diminutive so at this moment the only way for everything to fit is if my stomach detonates. And when my stomach detonates, I'm gonna depart this life and it's all because of you." Lorelai pointed an accusing finger toward Luke.  
  
"Wow, that was probably the most smartest and stupidest thing I have ever heard you say." Luke finished cleaning the dishes. "Now I've got to go, so if your stomach does idetonate/i, call an ambulance." With a departing smile and wave, Luke gathered his things, and left.  
  
Lorelai groaned and headed for the bathroom.  
  
A/N- Next chapter will continue from this chapter. A day won't pass or whatever okay? As for the italic things. Hopefully they will work, but if they don't and you see i this anywhere in the story, please ignore it. Thanks. Please review :( I'm begging you. 


	10. Locked

A/N- I wrote this during the day ff.net wasn't working. I hope you guys like it.  
  
Chapter Ten- Locked  
  
The door to the bookstore chimed as Rory and Jess walked in. There was a new section full of kid's books. Jess headed for it. Rory followed looking amused. Jess picked up a book. "Oooh, Care Bears. I wonder what Beasley is up to now." He started flipping through the book.  
  
"What are you doing?" Rory asked laughing.  
  
"Did you not just here me? I want to see what Beasley's up to. Noheart's probably gonna make him do something really stupid, as usual."  
  
"You've seen the Care Bears?" Rory asked surprised.  
  
"Hey, just because I grew up in a tiny apartment, with an alcoholic for a dad, doesn't mean I didn't watch cartoons." Jess said smiling, but Rory knew he was telling the truth.  
  
"All right, well you can check out this section, while I go look for Jane Austin's newest novel." Rory left, and headed for the A's.  
  
Ten minutes later, after Rory searched all over the place for a book she didn't already have, she started to look for Jess empty-handed. She found him where she left him. In the new kids section, sitting on a small chair meant for little kids, reading a Care Bear book. "Done?" Jess asked without looking up from his book.  
  
Rory pulled up a chair next to him. "Nothing! They have nothing I either don't have, or haven't read. This sucks." Jess looked up from his book, and noticed the look of disappointment on Rory's face.  
  
"Hold this for a second." Jess got up and handed Rory his book. He started walking away. "Don't move." He quickly turned around to face Rory. "Oh, and don't lose my page." He quickly walked off toward the front of the store.  
  
A minute later, Jess came back. "Let's go." He said.  
  
"Where?" Rory followed Jess to the back of the store. Jess stopped in front of a slightly open door.  
  
"The guy at the register-"  
  
"Andrew." Rory interrupted.  
  
"Okay, Andrew said they just got a new shipment of books. They're in this room. Now, he's gonna close in five minutes, but he said if we hurry we can look through them."  
  
"Really? This is so great. Thanks Jess." Rory smiled and pushed open the door. The room was very small. All it had in it was a big closed cardboard box and a shelf covering one wall stacked with ruined or old books. "He said we could open the box?" Rory asked.  
  
"Yep. Just as long as we don't ruin anything." Jess closed the door, leaving only a small crack. "Open it." He said to Rory who was just staring at the box.  
  
"Oh, do you have a knife or anything?" Rory asked.  
  
"I have a machete. Will that work?"  
  
"Oh my God Jess! Are you serious?!" Rory looked scared and surprised.  
  
"Jeez Rory. I was only kidding. You should have seen you face. It was all pale and scared. I didn't know I could do that to you." Jess said.  
  
"Hey, if I told you I carried a machete everywhere I went, you'd be scared too."  
  
Jess laughed like he'd just heard the funniest thing ever said by anyone ever.  
  
"Shut-up." Rory demanded smiling. "It wasn't funny."  
  
Jess just laughed.  
  
"Fine, be a jerk. Now I need to find something to open this box with." Rory looked on the shelf for anything sharp that could cut through the packing tape. Finally after a minute of searching, she found a small penknife on the bottom shelf. "Help me out." She ordered a giggling Jess who was still picturing Rory walking around with a machete.  
  
Rory glared at him. Jess immediately stopped laughing. "That was it!" He exclaimed.  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"That was your withering stare, wasn't it?" Jess walked up to Rory and took the penknife from Rory. "The one you used on that guy that was staring at you in New York. That was it."  
  
"Umm, no it wasn't."  
  
"Yes it was. And with a stare like that, you could probably knock Luke's cap off. He sleeps with it, works with it, he even showers with it. But with one simple stare, you my friend could knock it off. Congratulations." Jess clapped.  
  
"Thank you, thank you very much." Rory took the knife away from Jess and held it with both her hands. "I would like to thank my mom for supporting me throughout my whole life. And Luke, who has supplied me with coffee since I was able to swallow. And Jess, who has always been there when I didn't need him nor want him. Thank you." Rory teased.  
  
"And that, everyone, was a piece from Rory Gilmore's new movie, Slow On The Uptake." Jess once again took the knife away from Rory and cut the tape at the top of the box.  
  
"Oooh, a Barbara Walters Biography. Cool." Rory and Jess started looking through the books.  
  
Meanwhile, in the main part of the bookstore, Andrew completely forgot about Rory and Jess. He was getting ready to close up when he noticed that the storage room door was slightly open. "Who left that open?" He asked no one in particular. He walked up to it and closed it, making sure it was locked. Then he walked over to the light switch and turned it off. Seconds later he was outside of the bookstore, locking the doors, and walking away.  
  
Ten minutes later, Rory and Jess were both sitting on the carpeted storage room floor, absorbed in their books. Suddenly Rory looked at her watch, then at Jess. "Hey Jess? How long did Andrew say we could hang out in here?"  
  
"Five minutes I think. Why, how long have we been in here?"  
  
"Nearly twenty minutes. I wonder where he is."  
  
"I don't know. Let's go check." So they both got to their feet and walked to the door. Jess tried opening it. "It's locked."  
  
"What!?" Rory pushed Jess aside and tried opening it herself. It wouldn't turn. "Jess, it's locked!" Rory panicked.  
  
"What, really?" Jess asked sarcastically.  
  
"Oh my God!" Rory started pounding on the door. "Andrew! Let us out!" There was no answer, or any noise coming from the other side of the door. "ANDREW!!!"  
  
A/N- I'm sorry that there was no Lorelai or Luke in this chapter. I will have them in the next chapter, I promise. I have a question for you guys. Should there be any Lorelai/Luke romance. Please review and tell me what you think. 


	11. The Call

A/N- Lorelai and Luke it is then. Thanks for all the reviews guys. They make writing this fan fic, that much funner. (Microsoft Word says that FUNNER isn't a word. Isn't that stupid? Well anyway, back to the fic.)  
  
Chapter Eleven- The Call  
  
"ANDREW, get us out of here!" Rory screamed while banging on the door. "The door is locked! We need you to open it for us!"  
  
Jess grabbed Rory's arms, stopping her from any further banging. "Rory, he can't here us. Look under the small crack at the bottom of the door." Rory did. "See it's pitch black. He forgot about us Rory, and closed up. It's no use, banging on the door. You're giving me a headache. Not to mention, bruising your hands and hurting your throat."  
  
"How am I hurting my throat?" Rory asked looking down at the floor.  
  
"You're screaming like you've just seen Taylor naked!"  
  
"Wow. How can two people be so much alike, yet hate each other so much?" Rory muttered, remembering the time her mother said the same thing.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing." Rory looked up at Jess. "I'll stop screaming for help. I know it's no use, but I've never been locked up in a storage room before. Oooh, except for one time when I was like six, me and my mom were at a 7-11 in Hartford, and my mom wanted to see if they had any more jawbreakers in the storage room cause there were none left on the racks, so we walked in and mom closed the door behind us because she thought it was safer that way, so we wouldn't get caught. Then when we couldn't find any we tried opening the door, but it was locked, so we ended up having to scream for help and knock on the door until the guy at the register heard us. When we got out he asked us what we were doing in there, mom told him that her cat walked in and we had to find her. The guy didn't believe us but he let us go anyway. It was a very frightening experience."  
  
"I'm sure it was." Jess said and rolled his eyes.  
  
"So, what do we do now?"  
  
"I don't know. Do you have a hair pin or something?"  
  
"No, I took them out before you sprayed my hair and left them on the couch."  
  
"Well I don't have anything either. Do you have a cell phone, or a pager? Maybe we could call somebody for help." Jess suggested.  
  
"Oh, I have my pager!" Rory grabbed her handbag and searched through it for her pager. When she couldn't find it, she spilled out the contents. One book, The Fountain Head, a half eaten chocolate bar, her wallet, two pens, a hairbrush, and a yet to be opened, box of tic-tacs. "Dammit. I must have left it in my room. Do you have a cell phone?"  
  
Jess laughed. "Do you really think Luke would let me have a cell phone? Plus, why would I need one? I hardly use the phone as it as."  
  
"What are we gonna do? Andrew's not going to come back until tomorrow morning. By then, I'll be dead, because the only thing I ate the day before was half a chocolate bar."  
  
Jess reached into the pocket at his knee and pulled out two bags of pop tarts. "And some of your friends, breakfast." He said as he tossed Rory a bag.  
  
"Oooh, 'do it your self' icing!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Luke!" Lorelai called as she walked into the diner.  
  
"Hey. Did your stomach detonate okay?" Luke joked as her as he came from out of the back. Lorelai sat at the counter.  
  
"I'm hungry." She whined.  
  
"You just ate thirty minutes ago!"  
  
"I know, but in order to maintain my figure, I must eat every half an hour."  
  
"That makes sense." Luke said sarcastically.  
  
"Doesn't it?"  
  
"What do you want?" Luke asked annoyed.  
  
"Just some coffee." Lorelai smiled.  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"That's it."  
  
"I thought you were hungry."  
  
"I changed my mind."  
  
"You had six cups of coffee earlier, why don't you try something else. Maybe some tea, or at least decaf.  
  
Lorelai scoffed. "Are you seriously telling me that I can't have coffee?"  
  
"What if I am?"  
  
"Don't start with me Lucas!"  
  
"All right, tea it is." Luke headed toward the pot of tea.  
  
"No please! I'll never call you Lucas ever again! Don't do this to me Luke!" Just then Lorelei's cell phone rang. "When I get back, they're better be coffee waiting for me." Lorelai told Luke and walked out of the diner. She answered her phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Lorelai?" Somebody sniffed on the other end.  
  
"Mom, is that you? What's up?"  
  
"Your father's in the hospital."  
  
A/N- Sorry if this chapter is really short but that is how I wanted it to end. I'll try posting Chapter twelve tomorrow. Please review. The good stuff is coming soon. 


	12. Reason Why

A/N- Sorry about not posting right away but I sort of had writers block. But I'm back with the next chapter. Oh yeah, and when I named Chapter Eleven, I wasn't thinking about the Backstreet Boys song. Sorry about the confusion.  
  
Disclaimer: I DON'T own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters. Amy Sherman Pallidino does. She'd really lucky. I am not making any money off of this story either. I do own this story though because I wrote it.  
  
Chapter Twelve- Reason Why  
  
"Your father's in the hospital." Emily sniffed.  
  
"Why? What happened?" Lorelai felt tears in her eyes.  
  
"He had a heart attack during breakfast. I called an ambulance right away, and on the way to the hospital, he went unconscious. He still is, and hasn't woken up since. Lorelai, I'm so frightened! What if he doesn't survive?"  
  
"Oh, mom. Don't say that. He's Richard Gilmore. Retirement didn't stop him from living his dream, why should a heart attack?" Lorelai started sobbing now. "I'll be at the hospital in twenty minutes, okay?"  
  
"All right." Emily managed to say between sobs.  
  
"Mom, I promise you, everything is going to be fine. Dad is strong. He'll pull through." She reassured her mother and secretly, herself.  
  
"I know. Goodbye Lorelai."  
  
"Bye Mom. See you soon." Lorelei hung her phone up and walked into Luke's.  
  
Luke immediately noticed Lorelai's expression, and ran from behind the counter and toward Lorelai. "Lorelei, what's wrong?" He asked.  
  
Seeing the worried expression on Luke's face only made her cry harder. "My dad is in the hospital." She said and fell into Luke's arms, putting her head on his chest.  
  
Luke awkwardly put his arms around her. "Why, what happened?"  
  
"He had a heart attack and went unconscious on the way to the hospital. I'm going they're now." Lorelai pulled her head up and looked at Luke. "I need you to tell Rory what happened, because I don't know where she is and I'm not going to bother looking for her."  
  
"I'm coming with you Lorelai. I'll go tell Caesar to tell Rory if he sees her." Luke started to pull away, but Lorelai tightened her grip.  
  
"You don't have to do this Luke."  
  
"I want to." Lorelai let go of Luke and watched him find Caesar.  
  
~~~~~~~~  
  
Rory and Jess were sitting in the storage room, each holding a book. "Done." Jess announced.  
  
"Not fair. My book was longer." Rory whined, putting down The Diary of Anne Frank.  
  
"It's two words longer than The Giver. Hand over the pop tart."  
  
"Wait, I only have two pages left. If I can finish them in thirty seconds, will you give me half?"  
  
"Okay." Jess looked at his watch. "Go."  
  
Rory quickly picked up her book and started reading. Fifteen seconds later, she was finished the book. "Done!"  
  
"In record time too." Jess broke the pop tart in half. "So, didn't understand any of it?"  
  
"Not a word."  
  
Jess laughed and took a bite out of his half. "How long have we been stuck in here?"  
  
"Well it's 2pm now and we realized the door was locked at eleven thirty. So about two and a half hours."  
  
"When do you think Andrew will come back?"  
  
"At six in the morning, when he opens." Rory paused when realization struck her. "Oh my God! My mom! She's gonna be so worried! She's going to think I was out with you all night!"  
  
"Well technically, you will be."  
  
"Oh no. What if she calls the police? She's gonna tell the whole town that I'm missing. Everyone will tell her that the last time they saw me, I was with you and my hair was blue. What is she going to think? This is the second time this happened."  
  
"Do you mean the second time you were stuck in a storage room, or the second time you were out all night?"  
  
Rory looked a little nervous. "Second time I was out all night." She said quickly.  
  
"Are you serious? Where were you?"  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." Jess half smiled.  
  
"Well..." So Rory told him the whole story of the time she and Dean fell asleep in Miss. Patty's studio. "And when I got home, my mom and Grandma were both there.  
  
"Interesting." Jess said thoughtfully after a minute.  
  
"What's interesting?" Rory asked.  
  
"You, Rory Gilmore, spent the night with Bag Boy."  
  
"I didn't 'spend the night' with Bag- I mean Dean." Rory said defensively.  
  
"Technically, you did."  
  
"What's with you and the technicalities?" Rory asked annoyed, remembering what he said before.  
  
"I'm just stating the truth."  
  
"Well it's annoying." Rory said.  
  
"Hey, I was just joking, no need to get defensive. If you want me to shut up, just say so."  
  
"I don't want you to shut up. I'm sorry, I'm just worried, and angry. I'm sorry if I took it out on you."  
  
"You didn't. Don't worry about it."  
  
"So Jess, ever going to tell me what you did to get sent here?" Rory inquired..  
  
Jess stood up and walked over to the shelf of damaged books. He fingered a book called Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. "Do you really want to know?" He asked without looking at her.  
  
"Sure, if you really don't mind telling me."  
  
"I don't mind." Jess took a deep breath. "I got into a lot of fights."  
  
"Gang fights?" Rory asked.  
  
Jess laughed. "I wasn't in a gang. Just fights with guys from my neighborhood."  
  
"Physical? Did you use weapons?"  
  
Jess took another deep breath. "Most of the time. So anyway, one night, me and this asshole, Jake, were about to fight in the alley behind the apartment building I lived in. There were a lot of homeless guys around us watching like it was a fight on pay per view." Jess paused and laughed, remembering the look on their faces. "It was probably the only entertainment they got every week." He stopped smiling, and turned to look at Rory. "Anyway, we were both holding knives and were about to start to try and kill each other when a police car passed by. They saw us and stopped the fight, taking us both to the police station. I remember spending the night in a cell. The police tried calling my mom, but she didn't answer. Of course, she was probably out at some club with her new boyfriend. At ten the next morning, Liz finally answered the phone and the police told her to come and get me. She got there like two hours later and thanked the officers for phoning her. They told her to do something to keep me out of trouble since it was like the eighth time I was arrested for fighting. And her solution was to ship me off to the uncle I never met who lived in Boringsville, USA." Jess turned around and flipped through the book he was looking at before, and then put it back down. "So that's the whole story."  
  
"That's the reason why you came here?" Rory asked.  
  
"Yep, why were you expecting something else? Like stealing a pack of gum from a 7-11, or drowning a kitten or something?" Jess asked as he finally picked up the book and walked back toward Rory and sat on the floor next to her.  
  
"Well, no." Rory took the ripped book from Jess's hands. "Just tell me something."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Have you ever drowned a kitten before?" Jess laughed and shook his head. "Good." Rory sounded relieved. She looked down at the book in her hands. "Ever read this?" Jess shook his head again. "Well then I advise that you don't." Rory threw the book across the room. She then stood up and walked toward the shelf and picked up two books. She threw one to Jess. "Whoever finishes last has to sing and dance to O Christmas Tree."  
  
"No way." Jess said and tossed the book a couple feet away.  
  
Rory picked it up and gave it back to Jess. "Scared you'll lose?" She teased.  
  
"I'm scared all right, but not because I might lose. Did you look at the book you gave me?" Rory looked at the cover.  
  
"101 Ways on How To Have A Healthy Pregnancy. Young women like you Jess, should always be prepared you know."  
  
"That's not funny."  
  
"I think it was." Rory sat down next to Jess. "I'm bored. What do you wanna do?" Jess wiggled his eyes suggestively. "Okay, let me rephrase that. What do I- want to do?"  
  
A/N- Next chapter will be up soon hopefully. In the meantime, please review. Tell me what you like and disliked, tell me that they weren't in character, just say something. I need to know what I'm doing wrong and right. Thanks. 


	13. Awakening

A/N-Thanks for the awesome reviews! Here's chapter 13.  
  
Disclaimer: I DON'T own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters. Amy Sherman Pallidino does. She'd really lucky. I am not making any money off of this story either. I do own this story though because I wrote it.  
  
Chapter Thirteen- Awakening  
  
Lorelai pushed open the emergency room doors as Luke followed close behind. She walked up to the secretary's desk and noticed that it was the same lady that was there when Rory fractured her wrist. "Hi, remember me? I'm looking for my dad, Richard Gilmore. He had a heart attack this morning."  
  
The secretary, remembering Lorelai, didn't even bother telling her to take a seat. "Room 3B."  
  
Lorelai nodded and motioned for Luke to follow her. A minute later, when they found room 3B, Lorelai noticed that the door was slightly open. She peeked through it and saw Emily sitting on a chair next to an unconscious Richard, holding both his hands in her own. "Do you want me to wait out here?" Luke asked Lorelai.  
  
"No, come with me." Lorelai took Luke's left hand and held it as she slowly entered the room. "Mom, hi."  
  
Emily looked up from Richard, startled. "Lorelai, he's still unconscious! The doctors say that if he doesn't wake up in the next 24 hours, he'll slip into a coma! What am I going to do? I can't live without him!" Emily wept, completely oblivious to Luke.  
  
Seeing her mother like this, Lorelai's eyes built up with tears once again. "Oh, Mom don't say that."  
  
Luke felt as though, these two women should be alone, so he let go of Lorelai's hand and whispered, "I'm going to go get the two of you some coffee, all right?" Lorelai nodded as Luke quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him.  
  
Lorelai pulled an empty chair from the corner of the room and placed it next to her moms. "Do they have any idea why this happened?"  
  
"They said that things like this always happens to men your fathers age. It's not unusual, they say. I suppose they're right, but Richard is a healthy man. He doesn't deserve this." Emily started to sob again.  
  
"You're right mom. Dad didn't deserve this. But it happened to him and all we can do is wait for him to wake up. And he will, wake up I mean, because he's strong, and he knows that the world would suck without him." Lorelai gave Emily a weak smile and in return, Emily smiled back.  
  
"Yes, it would suck." Emily smiled. Lorelai giggled after hearing her mother use the word suck. "What?" Emily asked.  
  
"Nothing mom." Lorelai giggled.  
  
"There must be something, because this is not a laughing matter and you're laughing." Emily pressed.  
  
Just then there was a knock at the door, saving Lorelai from having to explain herself. Lorelai answered. "Oh, hey Luke."  
  
"Hi Lorelai, Mrs. Gilmore." Luke handed each woman a cup of coffee.  
  
"Hello Luke." Emily greeted.  
  
"So, how's Mr. Gilmore doing?" Luke asked. He didn't know that a simple question like that, could set Emily off into another batch of tears. "Oh, Mrs. Gilmore, I didn't know-"  
  
"That's quite all right Luke. Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to get some air."  
  
"Of course." Luke answered.  
  
Emily left, leaving Lorelai and Luke alone with Richard. "I better go talk to my mom." Lorelai said. "And you know, if you want, you could talk to him." Luke nodded so Lorelai, somewhat reluctantly, left closing the door behind her.  
  
Luke walked over to the chair Emily was sitting in moments ago. He looked at Richard and starting talking. "Hi Mr. Gilmore. I've never been big on the whole, 'talking-to-people-while-they're-unconscious' thing, since they probably can't hear you because you're sleeping, and you can't hear people while they're talking to you while you're sleeping, so why bother while they're unconscious? I don't think you know me well, we've met before, but I'm one of Lorelai's friends, Luke. I own the diner in Stars-Hollow you visited one time. Anyway, it would be great if you'd, you know, wake up, because, your wife is really miserable, not to mention Lorelai. They love you a lot, and really want you to be okay. So... Lorelai told me that you started working again. You must really like what you do, since you're back to work after retiring a while ago. I can't picture myself retiring. I think I'll be working at the diner until I die." Luke paused. "So, I have a nephew living with me now, Jess. He's a good kid. I don't know if Lorelai has mentioned him but if she did, it was probably something about how bad of a kid she thinks he is. But I like him, and Rory likes him even though most of the town hates him. And he likes Rory. They both like books and the same music and stuff so they like spending time together talking about books and music and stuff. Anyway, Lorelai and Mrs. Gilmore should be back soon, so I'll just shut-up now before I get caught talking to someone that can't even hear me." Luke sat back in his chair and watched Richard.  
  
"So you're Luke?" Richard asked in a low voice. Luke jumped in surprise, as Richard opened his eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"Jess?" Rory asked in a whiny voice.  
  
"Jess looked up from his book. "What?" He asked, mocking the voice Rory used.  
  
"I'm bored." She said mocking his mocked version of her mocking.  
  
"Then read." Jess said mocking Rory's mocked version of him mocking Rory's mocking. (A/N-Huh??)  
  
"What?" Rory asked in her normal voice.  
  
"Rory, this is a book store's storage room. I'm sure you can find something to read." Jess walked up to the shelf. "Here," he said throwing a damaged book at Rory. "Mansfield Park." Rory looked down at the book in her hands and smiled at Jess. "Go on, Fanny's waiting for you."  
  
An hour later, Rory put down her finished book. "I'm bored." She whined.  
  
"Done already?" Jess asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, what do you wanna do?" Rory looked like she was about to say something annoying. "Besides whine about how bored you are." Rory closed her mouth.  
  
A minute later Rory disturbed Jess from his book once again. "Let's talk." She suggested.  
  
"About what?" Jess asked without looking up from his book, Pride and Prejudice.  
  
"Anything." Rory took the book from him. "How about, I ask you a question, and you answer, then you ask me one and I answer. Won't that be fun?"  
  
"When I'm with you, Rory, everything is fun." Jess said sarcastically.  
  
Rory ignored him and asked the first question. "What was the first book you've ever read?"  
  
Jess thought for a moment. "I don't know. Something about shapes."  
  
Rory laughed. "Something with a little more pages."  
  
"Well the first serious book I've ever read was A Tale of Two Cities, I think."  
  
"Ah, my friend Charlie huh?"  
  
"That would be him, yes. How 'bout you?"  
  
"Emma."  
  
"Could've guessed it."  
  
"Am I that predictable?"  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"Well maybe I should start doing more things on impulse rather than routine, huh?"  
  
"That would fix the predictability thing, yes."  
  
The next thing Rory did surprised both Jess and herself.  
  
A/N- Hey everyone!!! So how's life? Well it would be really great if you reviewed this extremely well written chapter. HAH!!! Well written?????? Are you kidding me?? No wait, YOU'RE not kidding me, I'M kidding myself. Have I ever written a well-written chapter? NOPE, but I have to admit, I try. Which makes the no-well-written-chapter thing that much more of a disgrace. I'm sorry, am I making any sense??? Probably not. Okay anyway, could you please review??? Thanks. 


	14. Death & Injury

A/N- Thanks for all the reviews everyone. I just started school today and it's a nightmare. I already have homework, so I don't know how much time I'm going to have to write this fic. Hopefully I'll have a new chapter posted at least once a week. Oh, and could someone please tell me how you make italics, underlines, and bolds. Not knowing how is p***ing me off. Thanks. Oh and, I know you all wanted Rory and Jess to kiss, but that would make ME predictable, which I don't wanna be. Oh and, I only saw like two season one episodes so I didn't realize Richard has had a heart attack before. Sorry about that. Anyway, on with chapter 14.  
  
Chapter Fourteen- Death and Injury  
  
"Mr. Gilmore, you're awake!" Luke said, startled. "Do you want me to get you a doctor? I'll go find Mrs. Gilmore and Lorelai if you want, 'cause they just went outside for a minute. Just wait there, I'll go get them." Luke stood up from the chair and was about to leave when he heard Richards's deep voice.  
  
"Come over here." He said. Luke walked back to the chair and sat down. "I heard what you said before. You are quite an amusing man." Richard said softly.  
  
"Thanks?" Luke said, not sure if that was a compliment.  
  
"Listen Luke, I don't have much time." Richard said weakly, sounding very ill.  
  
"What do you mean, you don't have much time? The doctor said that if you woke up within the next day, you'd be fine."  
  
"You seem like a smart man Luke. When was the last time a doctor was 100% right?"  
  
"Well what do you need? Medicine? The doctor probably knows exactly what to give you. Do you want me to go get someone to help you out?" Luke asked, confused.  
  
"What a need is for you to be quiet for a moment and let me speak." Richard ordered, raising his weak voice. "I have to thank you for caring for Lorelai and Rory, the way Christopher never did. By the way, is Christopher still in town?" Richard asked suddenly.  
  
"Well, turns out his girlfriend is pregnant. He went back to Boston to work things out."  
  
"Must have broken Lorelai's heart."  
  
"Yeah, must've." Luke's jealousy of Chris clearly showed.  
  
"You really like her don't you?" Richard asked noticing the jealousy in Luke's voice.  
  
The question caught Luke off guard. "Who? Lorelai? Yeah, she's a great friend. She's a very nice person, though I have to admit, at times she can be annoying."  
  
"That's not what I meant. You care for her, as more than just a friend, am I right?"  
  
'Am I that transparent?' Luke thought to himself, but didn't say anything.  
  
"That's what I thought." Richard took in a deep breath that sounded like it was difficult for him to do. "Look Luke, I don't have much time but I want you to promise me that you will take good care for Lorelai, Emily, and Rory. Do you promise?" Richard asked faintly.  
  
"Mr. Gilmore, you'll be able to take care of them yourself once your out of this place." Luke said hopefully.  
  
"You know as well as I do that I'm not getting 'out of this place.' I'm dying. That's the truth, plain and simple."  
  
Luke felt a sudden rush of coldness sweep through him. Lorelai's father was telling him that he was dying. Pain was barely the word to describe what he was feeling. "But Mr. Gilmore-"  
  
"Luke, just promise me." Richard said frustrated.  
  
"I promise but-"  
  
"Goodbye Luke. Take good care of my girls." And with that Richard closed his eyes.  
  
The next thing Luke knew, a beep started coming from a monitor connected to Richard. Luke looked up at the screen and saw a straight line moving across it. "He's dead." Luke said astonished. Without another word to himself, Luke hurried to find a doctor.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
"Rory, what the hell are you doing?" Jess asked, watching Rory walk to the door.  
  
"I've always wanted to do this." She told Jess. With a grunt Rory quickly brought her right leg up and kicked the storage room door as hard as she could, expecting it to open right up. But to her surprise her foot just bounced back. "OWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" She screamed, falling backwards toward the carpeted floor.  
  
But before she hit the ground just leaned forward and held his arms out. Rory fell into them, without an inch of her body touching the ground. "Are you a freaking moron!!?? That door is steel. If I thought I could've kicked it open I would've done it hours ago."  
  
"My ankle, it hurts." Rory said ignoring Jess's anger.  
  
Jess gently put Rory down and crawled to her feet. "Which one?" Jess asked concerned.  
  
"The one with the shoe." Rory answered.  
  
Jess looked down at Rory's feet and saw that they both had shoes. "Care to elaborate?"  
  
"That one." Rory said, pointing to her right foot.  
  
Jess nodded and gently untied her shoelace. He loosened them a bit before slowly slipping it off. Then he lifted up her right pant leg until he found the rim of her Mickey Mouse toe socks. "Nice socks."  
  
"There my moms." Rory explained enjoying the feeling of Jess's hands on her leg.  
  
Jess slowly pulled down the sock, making sure he didn't harm her ankle. When the sock had been discarded, Jess put Rory's small foot into his hand squeezing it softly. "Does this hurt?"  
  
Rory giggled a little bit. Her feet were ticklish. "No."  
  
He moved his hand to her heel and cupped it, gently squeezing. "How 'bout this?" He asked.  
  
Again Rory's answer was no. Jess then moved his hand up about two inches and held her ankle. "This?" He asked as he squeezed her ankle.  
  
Rory took a sharp breath in and bit her lip to stop from screaming. She nodded her head.  
  
Jess let go of her ankle and came with a conclusion. "Well, I don't think it's broken, you're gonna need an X-Ray for that, but it is sprained."  
  
Rory breathed out a sigh of relief. "So, what are you gonna do doctor?" Rory asked. Jess took off his vest, revealing a black long-sleeved shirt. He then took that off, now revealing his bare chest and perfect muscular abs. "Jess, what are you doing?"  
  
"I need to wrap your ankle up in something." He said and ripped his shirt, forming a long strip. Jess gently placed Rory's foot in his lap and started wrapping her ankle with the piece of shirt. When he was finished he tucked in the end tightly. "There. Feel better?"  
  
Rory was just recovering from the sensation of Jess's hands on her bare skin. "Oh yeah." She sighed.  
  
A/N- I'm sorry about killing my Man Richie off but I needed something dramatic to happen. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but he is what I needed to make this story work. Anyway, I came to a conclusion this morning. This story going slow. Things aren't happening as fast as I, and probably you, would like them too. I'm guessing, there's going to be a lot more chapters to come, so I'm going to try my best to make things go a bit quicker. Sorry about that. Oh and thanks again for putting up with these borage 2K1 Author notes. Actually I shouldn't even call them author notes, because first of all I wouldn't even call myself an author and second of all, aren't notes supposed to be short? I mean what is the definition of 'NOTE' anyway? Prolly something like, 'a short message usually 1-2 sentences long,' right? Well if you'd count the amount of sentences in this 'note' (including this one) you'd find that there are already 12 sentences. Crazy huh? Okay so I guess I'll cut this one short (haha) so please review. Thanks my wonderful fans. (HAHAHAHA) Fans? Who am I kidding. 


	15. Problems

A/N- Oh man. School has took a lot out of me these past few weeks. I'm really sorry that I haven't updated for a really long time. I thought I'd have plenty of time in between school and sleep to post regularly but I was wrong. I wake up at 7am and take a shower, then eat then go to school. After school at three I start my homework, eat dinner, finish my homework, and by 9pm I'm done but I'm too sleepy to think up another chapter. I'm really really really sorry. Please accept this apology along with a peace offering, Chapter 15. Thanks.  
  
Chapter Fifteen- Problems  
  
Doctors were hovering over Richard Gilmore, trying to revive him. A worried Luke stood outside the room's window, watching nervously. Next to him were a frantic Lorelai, and an even more frantic Emily. Lorelai kept on repeating the same thing over and over, "Come on Dad, wake up," while Emily said, "You cannot do this to me Richard," quite a few times per minute.  
  
After five minutes of trying the doctors pronounced Richard Gilmore, dead at eight pm. "Nooooooooooo!!!" Emily screamed and ran into the room. The doctors quickly left to let Emily be alone with her deceased husband.  
  
Lorelai stood where she had been for the past fifteen minutes in Luke's arms, who had just finished yelling at the 'good-for-nothing doctors'. According to him they 'get paid way more than they should' and 'his nephew could've done a better job at saving Richards life than them.'  
  
"Luke, I can't believe my dad's dead." Lorelai said into Luke's chest. "He was always the sensible one in our family when I was a kid. He was never as judgmental as my mom. I loved him so much. Why did he have to die?" Lorelai burst into another mount of sobs.  
  
"Lorelai, I know how you feel. When my pop-" Luke cut himself off. He decided talking about his dad would just make him even more depressed which wouldn't be too good for Lorelai since he decided that he'd take care of her until she felt better.  
  
Tem minutes later, the doctors came back and told Emily that she had to let him go. Of course she refused but in the end, the doctors won and Richard was taking away. Emily walked up to Luke and Lorelai, sobbing her eyes out. Lorelai let go of Luke and held her arms out for her mother. Emily walked into them and the two embraced each other.  
  
"Could you take us to my mom's house?" Lorelai asked Luke after a minute.  
  
"Yes, please Lou, would you?" Emily asked softly.  
  
"Of course, come on." Lorelai held Luke's hand and put her arm around Emily's shoulders. The three slowly walked to the car.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Go fish." Jess said.  
  
"You know, I still don't understand how you had a deck of cards in your back pocket this whole time without realizing it until now." Rory remarked.  
  
"Yeah, they should mention it on 20/20, or how 'bout Unsolved Mysteries. Maybe they'll know" Jess said sarcastically.  
  
"I never pictured you as the card type. A jacks guys, sure. Marbles even. But not cards."  
  
"Another mystery yet to be solved." Jess sounded cranky and was fidgeting around.  
  
"What's your problem?" Rory asked.  
  
"What are you talking about? I don't have a problem." Jess snapped.  
  
"Fine, sorry." Rory said. "Do you have any nines?"  
  
"I don't want to play this stupid game anymore." Jess said and threw his cards on to the floor.  
  
"Fine." Rory said and began gathering the cards into a neat pile. Jess was fidgeting again in his cross-legged position. "So, what did you say your problem was again?"  
  
"I don't have a prob- Fine yes I do have a problem. You got a problem with that?"  
  
"No, but I would like to know why your squirming."  
  
Jess didn't say anything for a moment, trying to decide whether or not to tell Rory his problem. "I need to pee okay!" He blurted out.  
  
Rory burst out with laughter. "Hey! It's not funny! I really need to pee!" Jess said trying to stop a smile from creeping onto his face. He failed and started laughing. "Rory, stop laughing. The more you laugh, the more I laugh which speeds up the process of me needing to pee." That just made Rory laugh harder. Seeing Jess with his blue hair and the realization that he needed to pee was hysterical in Rory's mind.  
  
A minute later Jess had stopped laughing and resumed his restlessness. Rory's laughter died down and she just stared at Jess. "So, what are you gonna do?" She asked.  
  
"I don't know." Just then, Jess remembered something. "Hey, at my apartment, didn't you drink something?"  
  
"Uh, yeah. I drank some coffee. Why?" Rory asked suspiciously.  
  
"Because it's been nine and a half hours Rory, since we've had any access to a bathroom. I think that you might need to pee too." Jess smirked evilly.  
  
Rory didn't say anything. Instead she focused on that feeling she dreaded. "Oh my God!!! I need to pee!"  
  
A/N- So that's Chapter 15. Sorry it took me a month to post such a disappointing chapter. Please review and yell at me for my disgracefulness. 


	16. Finally Free

A/N- I am just going to make this authors note short and simple. I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooo sorry. I can't believe it's been this long. I have no excuse what so ever. I'd complain about having too much homework but then I'd be lying or at least that's what you'd think if you've seen/read my new story 'Class Trip to NYC.' The first thing that would come to your mind would be, 'She says that she doesn't update regularly because she has way too much school work, but she still manages to write a second story and update that one more often. She's a lying scumbuckle!' Well at least that's what I'd think if you were in my position and I was in yours. Once again, I am truly sorry and hope that one day you can forgive me. But for now lets just all be happy that I am even posting once every two months. Well, not too happy since you'll just get pissed again when I end up posting in another two months instead of what I should be doing, once a week. I am a jerk. I don't deserve to have my story posted on this wonderful site, full of wonderful people. Kay, now I'm just sucking up to try and get you to be a little less mad. But on the other hand, I actually admitted to sucking up which should put me on your good side. Kay, now I'm just being an idiot and wasting both yours and my time. I'm so very sorry. So much for short and simple! Hah! Please read and if you'd like take five seconds to say hi in a review. You will find the instructions on how to review at the end of this chapter.:) Oh and before I forget, I have realized that things are going WAY too slow so I'm going to try and speed up the process.  
  
Chapter Sixteen- Finally Free  
  
"So what are we going to do?" Rory asked.  
  
"I don't know," Jess replied. The two of them were both sitting cross- legged on the floor facing each other. They were also both wriggling.  
  
"Okay okay, umm. Oh we could try doing something that might take our minds off of our problem."  
  
"Like what?" Jess asked.  
  
"I don't know, read?" Rory suggested.  
  
"Okay, I'll read out loud from this book." Jess reached into the box of books and pulled one out at random. He looked at the cover. "A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle. Read it?"  
  
"I don't think so. Start reading and I'll try and remember." Rory responded.  
  
"Alright. In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and preceded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the Army. Having completed my studies there, I was duly attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as assistant surgeon." As Jess's soothing voice filled the room, the two teens forgot about their need to use the facilities.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Emily, Lorelai and Luke climbed into his truck. Luke sat in the driver seat, Lorelai sat next to him and Emily sat on the other side of Lorelai. "Everyone okay?" Luke asked.  
  
"Yes," Emily lied. She knew that she would never be okay again.  
  
"Lorelai?" Luke asked.  
  
"Yeah Luke, ready," Lorelai responded sadly.  
  
"No wait!" Emily said suddenly after Luke turned into the direction of Emily's home.  
  
"What is it mom?" Lorelai asked worriedly. Luke kept on driving and waited for Emily's response.  
  
"Go the other way. I don't want to go home yet." Emily decided.  
  
"Where do you wanna go mom?" Lorelai asked curiously.  
  
"Your house Lorelai. I want to go to your house. I can't face that huge house alone. I need to stay away from it. I will be reminded of Richard with every step I take in that house. And I can't deal with that right now," Emily sobbed.  
  
"Aww Mom it's okay," Lorelai hugged her mom as best as she could in the crowded truck. "I'd love it if you would stay with us for a while."  
  
"Thank you Lorelai," Emily smiled weakly.  
  
"Alright, to Lorelai's house it is then. We'll be there by 10pm." Luke did a u-turn in the non-busy road. To Lorelai's surprise, Emily didn't start an argument about safe driving.  
  
'Poor Mom,' Lorelai thought.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
Rory had her head in Jess's lap as she listened to Jess's voice read the story so clearly and beautifully. But it wasn't long until she started to fall asleep. Two minutes passed and Rory fell asleep.  
  
Suddenly, Jess also found himself getting tired. He started to read more slowly and less clearly. A minute later at 9:00, the book was on the ground closed and Jess was asleep, his hands around Rory, and his head resting comfortably on her head.  
  
~~~~~~  
  
At 10:30pm Andrew sleepily unlocked the door to the bookstore. "Why did I listen to Mother? If she wants to read the new stupid Barbara Walters Biography, she should figure out a way to get it herself. I have got to stop listening to her. I'm a grown man, I should be living in my own apartment in the city, not in my mothers house in a tiny little town somewhere in Connecticut. This is crazy. Why am I talking to myself?" Andrew mumbled. He headed to the storage room where the new books were kept and unlocked it He groggily reached for the light switch but noticed that the light was already on. "Huh? Ahh!" Andrew yelled obviously startled at the scene of two colored hair teenagers sleeping on the ground of the storage room.  
  
The two woke up with a start. "What? Whose their?" Jess asked right away, sitting upright.  
  
"What happened?" Rory asked abruptly.  
  
"Rory, is that you?" Andrew asked. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Realization hit Rory. "Oh my God! Andrew, you opened the door! Thank you so much!" Rory got off of the ground and helped Jess up. The two ran passed Andrew and toward the front door.  
  
Andrew closed his eyes and shook his head. "That's it! I'm moving out tomorrow morning."  
  
~~~~~~  
  
"What time is it Jess?" Rory asked once the two were outside.  
  
"10:30. Your mom's gonna freak."  
  
"Once I explain everything, she'll understand." Rory said to herself more than to Jess.  
  
"Well do you want me to come and help you explain or something?" Jess asked.  
  
"No that's alright. I want you alive tomorrow."  
  
Jess nodded and they stopped as they passed by Luke's. The two stood face to face in front of the diner. "Well I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah tomorrow," Rory said slowly and quietly as she leaned in towards Jess's lips.  
  
The almost-kiss was interrupted. "Rory!" Someone called form nearby. Rory turned around and saw her mother's devastated expression. Lorelai was crying.  
  
"Mom, what's wrong?" Rory asked concerned. For the moment she forgot about Jess and what almost happened.  
  
A/N- I know, stupid ending but my neck hurts and I can't sit on this chair a second longer. Well I'll need a few seconds to post this cuz it would be a waste to have spent the time to write this today but then wait until the next day to post it right? Well anyways PLEASE REVIEW:):):) 


	17. Staying Over

A/N- Hi, I'm back. It's been two weeks. Not bad considering the month of no updates in between Chapters 15 + 16, right? Anyways, here's Chapter 17.  
  
Chapter Seventeen- Staying Over  
  
Lorelai, who was in Luke's arms, and Emily waited as Rory jogged towards them. "Mom, Grandma, what's wrong?" Rory asked concerned.  
  
Jess slowly walked over to them when he noticed that Luke was there too. Luke, Lorelai, and Emily, all had very poignant expressions on their faces. They hardly noticed the two teens' hair.  
  
When Luke realized that neither Lorelai nor Emily could bring themselves to say anything he answered Rory's question. "Rory, Jess, Lorelai's Dad had a heart attack. He fell into a coma and died. I'm so sorry Rory."  
  
Before Rory could respond Emily said, "I'm sorry, I can't here this again. I have to go." Emily ran off into the direction of Lorelai's home.  
  
"Lorelai, maybe we should." Luke nudged his head toward Emily.  
  
"Yeah, you're right, let's go. Rory?"  
  
Rory shook her head and ran in the other direction. "Rory!" Lorelai yelled. Rory didn't turn back, she just kept on running.  
  
"Jess?" Luke asked.  
  
"I'll make sure she gets home okay," Jess answered and ran after Rory.  
  
Luke and Lorelai got into the truck and headed towards Lorelai's house.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jess found Rory at the bridge in the lake fully clothed. Her head was under the water. "Oh my God Rory! What are you doing?" Jess jumped into the water and pulled Rory's head out. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.  
  
"Jess, relax. I was just washing out the blue dye in my hair," Rory said.  
  
"Oh." Jess paused and looked away. He knew he wasn't great at comforting. "Are you all right?"  
  
"Yeah.. No, I'm not all right! My grandpa's dead Jess! Dead! And all because of a stupid heart attack! He should have lived; he wasn't old enough to die! He took care of himself! He ate half a grapefruit every morning! He shouldn't have died!" Rory leaned forward into Jess's arms, and sobbed quietly.  
  
"Don't worry Rory, it's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay," Jess comforted Rory as best as he could there, in the lake.  
  
Five minutes later the two heard thunder. Rory's head shot up quickly and she looked around. "What was that?" She asked scared. By now the dye in both their hair was gone.  
  
"Thunder. I think we should go Rory. I'll walk you home." Rory nodded so Jess helped her out of the lake and onto the bridge. Once they were both out Jess put one arm around Rory's shoulders and they began to walk just as the rain began to fall. "Come on Rory, let's hurry!" Jess said. "It's raining hard. We'll get sick if we don't get inside soon."  
  
The two teens ran as fast as they could in the rain until they reached Luke's diner. Jess pulled out his key from his pocket and unlocked the door. "Rory, get in."  
  
She walked in and Jess followed. He closed the door behind him and walked over to where Rory sat on the counter. "I'm going to go get some towels. I'll be back in a minute."  
  
"K," came Rory's quiet voice.  
  
Just as Jess said, he was back in sixty seconds with a towel around his shoulders and one in his arms. "Here you go," he said as he handed Rory the large blue beach towel.  
  
"Thanks." Rory jumped off the counter and wrapped herself in the towel. Jess noticed that as she did this, her hands were trembling.  
  
"Rory, I think you should get those wet clothes off. I have some extra sweats you could wear if you want." Rory nodded and followed Jess upstairs. The door to the apartment was unlocked so Jess opened the door and let Rory in. She went to the couch and waited as Jess went to his bedroom to retrieve the clothes for Rory. "Here," he said as he came back a moment later. "You can change in there," Jess pointed towards his room.  
  
"Thanks." Rory got off the couch and walked towards the room, holding the black Metallica t-shirt and gray sweatpants tightly in one hand.  
  
"I'm going to call your mom and tell her where we are, all right?" Jess called to Rory.  
  
"Okay," came the quiet voice from behind the door.  
  
Jess picked up the phone and dialed the Gilmore's phone number.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile  
  
When Lorelai and Luke reached Lorelai's house, they quickly got out of the car. Emily was sitting on the porch in the rocker staring off into space. Lorelai ran up to her with Luke close behind. "Mom, let's go inside. It looks like it's going to rain, come on." Lorelai helped her mother up and the two of them walked together into the house.  
  
Luke stared after them and decided not to go in. He walked over to where Emily was just sitting and sat down. Ten minutes later he heard the screen door open and watched as Lorelai slowly made her way towards him. She sat down next to Luke on the rocker. "Hey," Lorelai greeted.  
  
"Hey. How's your mom doing?" Luke asked.  
  
"She's in my room, asleep," Lorelai answered.  
  
"That's good," Luke commented.  
  
"Yeah, real good," Lorelai said dully.  
  
Just then it started to rain. The large drops came down quickly. Lorelai and Luke just stared at the down pour for a couple minutes until at the same time both of them looked at each other and spoke.  
  
Lorelai: "Luke, could you stay tonight?"  
  
Luke: "I should get going."  
  
And then, at the same time again:  
  
Lorelai: "You wanna leave?"  
  
Luke: "You want me to stay?"  
  
They laughed quietly for a second then Luke said, "Lorelai, I'll stay if that's what you want. I don't mind."  
  
"That would be really nice Luke, thanks," Lorelai gave Luke a weak smile. The two stared at each other intently for a moment and leaned closer and closer toward each other's lips. Just then, the phone interrupted them as it's ring echoed through the house.  
  
"We better go inside," Lorelai said and got off the rocker.  
  
"Yeah." Luke followed Lorelai inside the house and closed the door behind him.  
  
Lorelai answered the phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Lorelai?" came Jess's voice.  
  
"Yeah. Are you with Rory?"  
  
"Yeah, she's fine."  
  
"Where are you guys?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"We're at Luke's. We were on our way to your house and it started raining so we stopped at Luke's instead 'cause it was closer. We're upstairs now. Rory's changing into dry clothes 'cause hers were drenched, but she's fine. Just a little cold."  
  
"Can you put her on a sec?" Lorelai asked.  
  
"Just a sec." Jess put the phone down and walked toward his closed door. He knocked lightly twice. "Rory?" There was no answer. "Rory?" He repeated. Again, no answer. Jess held the knob and slowly pushed open the door waiting for a cry of protest. There was none.  
  
When the door was opened all the way Jess saw that Rory was lying on his bed covered in a blanket. He sat on the bed next to her and brushed back a strand of hair. She was asleep and looked peaceful so Jess decided not to wake her. He left the room and closed the door softly behind him. He went back to the phone. "Lorelai, you still there?"  
  
"Yeah. Where's Rory?"  
  
"She's asleep. I didn't wake her, but if you want me to I will," Jess said.  
  
"No, no, it's all right. I would come pick her up but it's insane outside. If she does wake up, tell her that I called. I'll come pick her up in the morning."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"Oh, I forgot. Luke is here right now. He's gonna stay over for the night. Do you wanna talk to him?"  
  
"No, it's all right. Bye Lorelai."  
  
"Bye."  
  
A/N- Please REVIEW!!! 


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